Does California do value?

See California Wine Summit – a guide.

This must have been the toughest tasting of all during the California Wine Summit – not for the tasters but for Linda Murphy, Purple Pages contributor and co-author with Jancis of the recently published American Wine, whose task was to find 20 wines under $20 (around £12 or €14) to prove that California 'does value'.

That it does not is a common criticism, particularly in the UK, where it is relatively easy to find unexciting inexpensive wines or exciting but relatively expensive wines and not much in between.

The fizz, rosé...